Elisabeth Donker the Joy of Art

The Last Page

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:30:00 +0000

Some two years ago now I complained to my son Coert that I couldn't find a mention of my work on internet. He suggested I start a web-log and make myself known. Coert got me started and I enjoyed regularly posting my activities for friends and family abroad, picking up a client along the way and, of course, "seeing my picture on the cover".
As time passes I look at all the posts and see I am having much fun doing pretty much the same.... but different. I feel, anyway, that it's not exciting enough to keep posting it here so I'm going to call this "The Last Page" for now.
For those who feel the urge.... you can keep up with me and my work via Facebook.

Trying to Find the Track

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:10:00 +0000

Yes, that's it... trying to find the way back to my blog. My last post was back in December. Much has happened since then:

Chrismas
New Year
Cornalijn's birthday
Addiction to Facebook
Alot of winter, even a..
Ice Storm that took many trees and left us without electicity for almost two weeks. Couldn't even get to Princeton for my painting group.
A new showerstall in the bathroom
Coert came for ten days
MY BIRTHDAY
One of my goats, Lady, passed
We gave five geese away and luckily have kept at least one female (you try and "sex"a goose)
Cleaned up my studio with Coert.... enough room the actually work!

This list is just to bring you up to speed, although I have to admit that when I settle down each morning with a cup of coffee to update my blog I don't seem to get past my Facebook page. I'm working on it though.... I have space to work, I have the energy (although the weather is gloomy) and, and, and I just have to get it back on track.
Inspiration, that's it! I feel it coming... it's on the way.

Welcome to My Internet Exhibit......

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:46:00 +0000

Welcome to the opening.
As this is a virtual exhibit I invite you to pour a glass of wine for yourself, sit back, and scroll through the paintings below.
Looking down through the next 5 posts on my blog you will encounter an oversight of some 30 paintings I made on Cape Cod.
The subjects range from inland landscape to dunes and surf all over the Cape but concentrated around Sesuit Harbor in East Dennis Ma.
Enjoy.

Cape Cod Lighthouses, Landscapes and a Portrait

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 13:06:00 +0000

During the seventies I painted pretty much every lighthouse on Cape Cod. We had a yellow 4 wheel drive jeep back then and were free to drive over the beach and through the dunes with a pass from the National Seashore. We would drive from Truro along the Atlantic coast all the way out to Lands End in Cape Cod bay.

We call this the "Secret Valley". It was just around the bluff from our beach and we did some of our best beachplum picking there. The first painting hangs in Coert's house and is scene from the valley looking back to an abandond beachhouse on the dune. The following two paintings are in the valley itself where the colors in the shrubs always blew me away.

This painting I found after having posted last week. It is another view of the meadow between Stone's mansion and Stephen Phillips Road. Look at the dune....
This is a portrait of my daughter, Cornalijn.

the Next Chapter on Cape Cod

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:42:00 +0000

During the Cape Cod years I was painting quite a lot.. so much and sometimes so fast I would just recycle canvases. This week we'll start with the Bagley house but then beach-side on the back-side.
The second painting is of the old Stone- house. A sprawling estate that used to be on the hill above Stephen Phillips Road, surrounded by meadows and hedgerows.
Just accross Bridge Street from S-P Road and down along Old Town Lane I painted this scene. Painted on a recycled canvas this is the only one that ever started chipping. In the background you might see two people walking along Sesuit Neck Road. It is from about there that I painted the Pear tree below. This tree still stands some 32 years later.
I got up really early one morning and went down to Sesuit Harbor to paint the colorful boats in the morning mist. This painting is in private collection.
These are the flats outside of Brewster, Ma. nearby the estuary of Quivet Creek. We call them "Crow's Pasture". This painting is in private collection as well.
This painting is of Quivet Cemetery in Brewster, painted from Sea Street the closed road as we call it. See the next painting.

I would like to express my appreciation to family members, old friends and valued customers that were so kind to send me photographs of paintings I knew were out there but in many cases had not seen for many years.

Cape Cod Bay

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:54:00 +0000

This is a summer scene facing east from (what used to be) the Bagley house. In the background, the horizon you might say, is the jetty at Sesuit Habor. To the right is the East Dennis public beach. Off the beach, halfway "up the jetty", you can see "Gull-rock". This rock stands dry at low tide but is now in about eight feet of water. Here is a painting of a summer storm. I admit openly that this one was most likley painted from behind glass. This painting is in a private collection.
This painting we call "the Rolling Waves". Also in private collection.
The last one for today I call "the Morning Sea".... even though it is Cape Cod Bay.

Chapter Two: the Marsh and Bog Scenes

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:34:00 +0000

This in a picture of me painting on Bridge Street in East Dennis somewhere between 1976 and 1980..... I ended up cutting this painting in half and selling the top half in one of those Cape Cod artist events along route 6a.

The painting below is pretty much the same but from closer to East Dennis. I painted this one from someone's backyard.This painting is the view upstream from the same spot on Bridge Street above.
This painting is now in a friend's private collection and they call it "Our Little Cottage". In the foreground is the flooded cranberry bog on Stephan Phillips Road in East Dennis. Coert mapped this one on Panoramio.
Here another of the same bog.... but earlier, signed 1974. Coert and Peter are walking back to the house after coming to visit me while painting. This one hangs in Coert's house and has been mapped as well.

Cape Cod Summers 1

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 07:55:00 +0000

During the seventies my family enjoyed summers on Cape Cod. The July month was spent at the house of a dear family friend; H.P.Bagley II.

My children were young and played on the beach in East Dennis, next to Sesuit harbor. This gave me plenty of time to paint in the area.

My son Coert remembered, during a recent telephone call, having to “lug that tote-bag and paintbox” all over the place…. My reply was that someone had to carry the stuff.

Moving on:

This portrait is of Prescott Bagley (Jan. 1927- April 2005) painted in '75-76.

Below cottage is where Peter and I spent our honeymoon in 1964. This painting must also be from 1975 or 76.

Here a painting over the beach towards the jetty at Sesuit Harbor.

Seeing these paintings again (and there are some more to come) remind me of how much I was very influenced by my teacher at the time, Robert Hunter. He taught me to paint with thin layers. The "van Gogh" in me came out later.

Coert mapped the above paintings on his Panoramio site. Have a look there (be sure to zoom in) to see how, in some cases, the world has changed.

Sharing the Statistics

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:25:00 +0000

I have been busy putting together a blog-exhibit these past weeks….

Whenever my web-log slows down you can count on me being up to something.

This exhibit will entail paintings made on Cape Cod in the 1970’s it has taken quite the effort to find them. Most I have spread around (stacked away) in my studio but some have been either sold or given away in the course of time. So I’m trying to remember what went where and to whom and contacting people for photographs.

In the mean time I thought it would be fun to share some “blog stats” with you.....

As of today we have had 3,162 “visits” to the Joy of Art, with 1,109 “absolute unique visitors”. The 3,162 visits show an average 1.78 “page views” per visit (total 5,621 “page views”) with an average of two minutes on-site.

The visitors to the Joy of Art are spread out over 60 countries around the world. In the top-ten, not surprisingly, we see the U.S. and the Netherlands, followed by Canada, Israel, U.K., Germany, Belgium, India, France and Turkey.

All in all quite some attention for a woman just doing her thing.

Been Delegating the Panoramics...

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:10:00 +0000

I somehow got the date-function on my camera turned off and sent Coert another set of photos. Although this one does not offer a wider range of view I do like the way it "flames" (o.k. distorts)in the margins.... It's about time that Coert posts a few new pictures on his own Panoramio site.

Panorama over at the Pond

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:35:00 +0000

My son Coert has been playing with panoramic-photo-stitching for some time now.... We both have space on "Panoramio" (his & mine), a site that links our photos to Google Earth and Maps.
Below my first attempt at a panorama compiled of three photos (Coert did the stitching for me). Now I'm trying to get the !@#$% date function on my camera turned off.
Hopefully more to come but for now the breathtaking colors of Cooks Pond.... you can click on the image for a larger view.

An Altogether Busy Week

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:50:00 +0000

This week we had a guest from The Netherlands.
Nel is the widow of one of Peter's oldest friends, Gijs van Barneveld. Nel lives in the city of lives in Dordrecht. When Nel arrived on the 2nd of October Autumn had just set in. and when she left on the 10th the season was in full glory.
Nel was awestruck by the colors of our New England season and was constantly making photo's.... Below is one I made of her.
On Tuesday we painted the grandson of Charles Grey. The photo of my painting did not do enough credit to my work, but here is one of Victoria, I liked her painting as well.
Besides playing tourist with our guest touring around, shopping at Macy's, visiting Boston, art museums, etc. etc we celebrated the 50th birthday party for a friend of ours.
Yesterday Nel left, we had a little bit of an empty nest syndrome. She was such a good guest, full of enthousiasm and joy.

Art in the Bank

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:58:00 +0000

This month I have a little exhibit at the Princeton branch of the Barre Savings Bank.
There was space for nine paintings.
The branch manager, Mary Tomasello, invites a different atrtist in each month to exhibit. Custumers seem to really apprecitate the monthly change of scenery.....it also gives everyone working in the bank something new and interesting to look at.

The fact that my work is being displayed in an area where people are working, waiting or doing business appeals to me. The space is alive and that adds to the vibrance I try to convey with my work... Plus, I enjoy the exposure I am getting for my art....

Here's a picture with one of my sunflower paintings on the left and a portrait of my grandson Thomas Patrick on the right. As usual you can click on the image for a larger view:
Another one of my sunflowers behind the branch manager's desk (a clutterd workspace is a sign of a clear mind):
A portrait of John in Native American dress on the left and a topographical abstract on the right:

the Mad Hatter

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:28:00 +0000

Friday, on my way home through Paxton I noticed an "Estate Sale" sign along the road.
I hit the brakes.
I love estate sales, yard sales, garage sales, fleamarkets, you never know what you might find.

The sale was everything an old lady had kept. The lady of the house had moved into assisted living and her heirs (to be) were selling the furnuture, garden tools, kitchen pots and pans, dishes, knick-knacks, the whole deal.

On the dining room table I couldn't help but notice a tall hatbox with the name" Stetson" on it. I already have a collection of Stetson cowboy hats but no boxes..... yet.
When I asked how much he wanted for the box the man said "they all go together" and pointed at four more hat boxes. One of them had the name of Denholms and McKay company and the others also had local names. I, as a matter of fact, worked in the millinery department there in 1964-65.
In the Denholms box was a pretty pink straw hat, probably from the fifties.... we'll call that one "vintage".
I took them all.

When I unpacked my boxes at home I was surprised that the hat boxes had many "vintage" hats piled into them. I am now the proud owner of at least 15 hats.... fur ones, pink ones, a flowered one, a white one... to many to describe or picture here.
Anyway, here is a sample below. We had a lot of fun trying them out.

From Tradition to Prehistory

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 12:24:00 +0000

While in The Netherlands, just about a week ago now, we sometimes had a evening treat called “Advocaat”. Dutch tradition is to eat this alcoholic beverage with a spoon from a small glass. Today I made a batch….. Here’s the recipe:

12 eggs
400 gr sugar
Two tablespoons of vanilla
1/2 quart of Brandewijn ( as this is hard to find here in the USA brandy or rum will be a good option, spiced rum even better.)

Break the eggs one by one into a bowl and beat them until smooth. Pour through a sieve and mix once more…. You want this really fine and creamy. Add the sugar while mixing the egg mass and then pour in the alcohol.

Warm the mixture in a double boiler (au bain marie) and keep stirring. Your “product” will start to thicken at about 140 degrees. When the foam is all gone the Advocaat is ready.
Allow it to cool, stirring occasionally.

Advocaat is traditionally served in little glasses, a little larger than a shot glass, topped with whipped cream and eaten with a little spoon (like one of those souvenir spoons).
That is the way it was done when I was growing up.
You might try using it as a pastry filling...
Whatever you do with it, it is delicious.

Paintings this week areTraci from the Nursery and John my neighbour in Native headdress, he collects these artefacts.

Last but not least a photo Coert sent me of a pot he made. He has been interested in prehistoric European “Linear Pottery” for so long he has started making replicas, firing them in an outdoor pit.

Back from Vacation.... Zucchini Soup Recipie

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:50:00 +0000

Back from vacation and the garden is overgrown.
What to do with zucchini that is as thick as your fore-arm?
I don't know what I did with my camera so the date is not correct.

Anyway, I was in luck because Dorri had a recipe and had writtren it down for me.
I will translate it from Dutch:
For eight people, (invite friends because it is really very tasty)
Courgette soup (courgette is the French word for zucchini)

Three pounds of courgettes (zucchini), seeded.
One pound of potatoes
One onion
Two pounds of chicken breast
One stick of butter
One little jar of green olives with pimento
Half cup of cream
One quart of chicken bouillon

Cube the zucchini, potatoes and onion. Put them into the melted butter in a great big pan. Add the bouillon, put the chicken breast on top and bring everything slowly to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes, until meat is cooked. Take out the chicken and puree the soup with a mixer. I do not own one so I mashed it with the tool I make mashed potatoes with....it worked fine.
Cut the chicken in small pieces and return it to the soup. Slice the olives and add them with the cream to the soup.
Bring to a boil and add salt and pepper to taste.
This soup is really delicious! Enjoy.

Second Week of My Field Trip Abroad

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:57:00 +0000

Well, I've been up to quite a bit this last week. Here's a photo-impression of a few of my activities:

1. I attended my granddaughter Dana's riding lesson:
2. I visited with my sister in-law, Joan Herweijer, a sculptor:

3. I attended a country fair where lost and dying arts were demonstrated, this is a wooden shoe maker making a pair of miniatures:
4. I went with Dorri to the Saturday market in Harderwijk and arrived home laden with flowers:

A Day on the Heath

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:37:00 +0000

Today we spent a wonderful day on the heath…. the Hulshorsterzand.

After breakfast this morning Dorri packed a picnic-lunch and we were off.

About six kilometers from where Coert and Dorri live we went to a heath that Coert helped restore (by clear-cutting 18 acres) some ten years ago.

I had a wonderful time just setting up my easel and painting for a few hours.

While I was busy Coert and Dorri were either taking walks in the area or reading in the shade. Dana & Christiaan were busily working on their paintings.

With the heather in full bloom I was reminded of how much I love this landscape..... to see the horizon and all the colors in between.
See the pictures below (click on them for full-sized image):

My First Week in Holland

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 17:16:00 +0000

During this last week I have been observing (and enjoying) the typical Dutch atmosphere.

I have been to Friesland with Dorri to visit her mother enjoying the landscape on the way. One of the excursions on this day was to a distillery in the town of Sneek where they produce the regional “bitter”.

I went swimming with my grandchildren, Dana and Christiaan, went out to dinner with my brothers and spent quite some time on the bicycle on our trips back and forth to Harderwijk…. Averaging ten to 12 kilometers a day.

Today, Saturday, is market day in Harderwijk. We all went to town with saddlebags. Coert even had a little trailer so their dog Esra wouldn’t have to run all the way.

Luck would have it that today was the annual “Flag-day” for the traditional fishing fleet.

The whole harbour was full of old fashioned fishing boats, people in traditional dress, stands showing and selling the lost arts of basket weaving, net-making, broom-tying.

I think the pictures below should be self-explanatory by now:

Arrival in the Netherlands (no weeds in the yard)

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:45:00 +0000

Coert, Dorri and the children picked me up at Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Saturday morning. We were back at their house in Hierden by lunchtime. Of course I'm here to celebrate Coert's birthday.... today actually.

Yesterday (Sunday) Coert and Dorri had a bunch of people over for drinks. I didn't get to making any pictures of the festivities that lasted late into the evening. Maybe for the better.

What I did make a picture of is what I saw over the hedge in the neighbor's yard.
I was very surprised to see five well kept pot plants growing there.
Coert told me his neighbor has the right to have five plants for personal use and he is exercising that right with enthusiasm. Although his partner is apparently not that enthused about it.

Myself only once ever trying but never having inhaled the stuff was proud to have recognized the plants.

Thought the folks over by the North Bend might get a kick out of this….

Peter's 72nd Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:10:00 +0000

Peter's 72nd birthday was a weekend of joy.
It all started friday night with our weekly cocktail party. Everybody was there.
We had cake and sang happy birthday in Dutch and English.
Saturday a Dutch friend we had not seen for seventeen years unexpectedly arrived with her husband and two teenagers. As they arrived late we orderd pizza and we had a nice evening catching up and watching the Olympics on the new t.v. Peter got for his birthday.
Victor, our 14 year old guest from the Netherlands, had installed it. We had tried but could not get a picture.Sunday morning Cornalijn, Paul and kids came to be there when the candles were blown out on the birthday cake. Now there was eleven of us. Our dutch guest Corlijn (12 years) old made a painting of my granddaughterLillian. Daniel helped blow out the birthdaycake. We all went for a walk in the backyard to visit my 'thinking rock' (meditation place). While we were on our walk Peter's cousin Bill and his wife Carol had arrived. It was so festive to have so many people around. We all made dinner and had another long evening with lots of laughing and singing. Our friends from the Netherlands left for the Niagra Falls on Monday afternoon.....but not before having seen a Cardinal, an Oriol, Hummingbirds, snakes, squirrils chipmunks.

Now it's time to get ready and pack my suitcase to go visit my son and his family in the Netherlands. I will be there just in time for his birthday.

Re: Where Are My People of Chilmark?

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:18:00 +0000

Almost a year ago now I deliverd a commissioned copy of Thomas Hart Benton's "People of Chilmark" to a buyer in Los Angeles. This buyer ended up selling the painting because at its original size (65x77 inches or 166x197cm) it was larger than he had anticipated...

Since then I have been trying to find out where this painting was.... because I wanted to know.
I had heard that it was sold to a restaurant or club but nothing was for sure so I posted missing painting report with a reward on this blog and saturated CraigsList in L.A. with want ads.

Just a couple of weeks ago the original buyer (Jim) was at a flea market in Los Angeles and recognized person who bought the painting from him. Jim knew I was trying to locate "People of Chilmark".
Jim was bold enough to approach the man, Ronald, and told him the whole story of my search.
It turns out that Ronald is a art collector. After buying the painting from Jim he had the canvas stretched and framed.
Ronald and I had a wonderful telephone conversation. I am very delighted with this happy ending. Thanks to everyone helping with the search and being supportive!
The findersfee goes to Jim.

Keeping Busy

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:07:00 +0000

Besides being very busy in the flower and the vegetable garden. I have been painting.
Here a vase with sunflowers. At 24x36 inches this is a large painting.
The vase they are in is one of my WorcesterWare vases. I made a series of six of these vases in 1990. Most of them were later made into lamps. See the second photo for detail.....

North Bend Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 06:37:00 +0000

Gardening this year started out as quite the challenge.

All the water this spring got me off to a late start.... and the those !@#$%^coyotes that had been taking my chickens have left and been replaced by wild rabbits that ate all of the seedlings as they came up.
Since reinforcing the garden fence with chicken wire and replanting pretty much everything the ball has been rolling in a positive direction.

In this picture you see that I have help from friends..... "crop-sharers"instead of "share-croppers".
In the third picture you can see how fast everything is growing.
Note the sunflowers, they are not blooming yet, but see how tall they are.
We have already harvested several meals of summer-squash, little tomatoes, swiss chard, cucumbers, eggplant and even a pepper. All this besides the regular herbs. The pole beans "Kentucky wonders" are blooming. I like those a lot because of the red flowers. The hummingbird visits them a couple of times a day. ... You can set your watch by it.
Last but not least note the new fence. I am enlarging the garden for next year.

.... Bringing it back to me

noreply@blogger.com (Elisabeth J. Donker) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:47:00 +0000

This year I discovered a new nursery hidden out on Route 56 in Rutland called Southern Exposure Nursery. Most of my garden annuals and vegetables came from there.this year.
Tracy , the woman who works there is so nice, and so beautiful. We asked her to pose for the portrait group.
They have a Southern Exposure website so you can have a look.

I made a painting of the place but I am not very happy with it. The painting is too wide and the righthandside is just too much.
I do love the middle though, with the little yellow shed under the shade of a big tree. On the left I tried to get the colors of the flowers as much as I could.

Anyway, I bet when I look at it in January I will like it.